EA’s NHL series has finally hit next generation consoles for the first time in the PS4 and Xbox One era this year and there is a lot of excitement for next gen hockey this year, but does NHL 15 live up to its hype? Read my review to find out.

It is a little less than three weeks until the NHL season kicks off on October 8th and that means NHL video games are out, or should I say EA’s NHL game is out. How does NHL 15 match up against NHL 14? Read the review to find out.

Good evening followers of ELECTROSPORTS, as you might have noticed I have not used this blog too much recently. That is because I am using the new site http://www.enforcingthecode.com to update lately. So if you want to continue to receive material it is over on that site from here on out. I will have my E3 preview and coverage on there along with my Watch_Dogs review, and Stanley Cup Finals preview and recap. So head on over there for all the latest news, and remember to follow for all of the recent updates from me and staff.

Thanks for the good times here, and I hope to build many more on the new site.

Electronic Arts and Visceral Games have announced Battlefield Hardline which is different from prior Battlefield games because it is more of a cops and robbers style game as opposed to Your typical Battlefield game that is more or less all out war.

The game was confirmed in the following blog post, and is expected to have an bigger unveil at E3 2014 on June 9th at EA’s Conference at 3 PM ET.

Battlefield Hardline is due out in fall 2014.

Also Gamespot has the leaked video on their youtube page which you can watch below.

Baseball season is about a quarter of the way through and we’re finally digging into a PS4 version of the MLB 14: The Show through and through. Over the last couple of weeks I have played this game a lot, there is a lot in this game that isn’t new, but pretty well done. So let’s not waste anymore time, let’s dig in.

MLB the Show has a tradition of being one of the better sports games on an annual basis and this year is no different, MLB the show is a very solid game with minor issues.

Gameplay

The gameplay is great until you have to field and are forced to make a throw, unlike in years past, there seems to be no forgiveness if you hold the button down too long, or too little which can lead to a lot of throwing errors if you are not sure on your timing, even on rookie difficulty on the throwing you will see a few errors. The only work around to this seems to be using the button interface.

Outside of that however the game plays very well in all aspects from pitching to defense to offense. The game with it’s fast play option in a well pitched game is roughly 3o minutes without using quick counts (randomized pitch counts) to complete the game.

Graphically the game is a bit of a miss, sure the graphics are very good, boardering great, but they are not overly impressive given games like Killzone: Shadow Fall and Infamous: Second Son have stellar visuals which take advantage of the PS4′s power.

Speaking of graphics, I want to also point out that there is a lighting issue at certain parks such as Petco, and PNC parks where the seats in the outfield are poorly lighted. It is expected to be taken care of in a future patch.

Franchise Mode

Franchise mode has improved, not because it had much added to it (more on that in a second), but mainly because the improved CPU draft logic which now takes prospects off the board unlike in MLB ’13 when it took pretty much no prospects off the board. Another thing that Franchise Mode got was improved overall ratings logic, which means no longer is 20-25% of Major League Baseball a 99 overall. In fact, most of the league is rated much better, though you still have some head scratchers such as Milwaukee’s Carlos Gomez being a low 90′s overall. But as I’ve said, comparing this year to last year, the ratings are more in line with what they really should be.

Because of the ratings improvements, it makes the mode so much more fun to play knowing that you don’t have at least 10 elite talents on every team.

In terms of additions the two biggest ones are the new menu layout, and a player search feature. Other than that, the mode is pretty much the same outside of what is discussed within this section.

The mode is not without some flaws however, I’ve give an example of two. First is the trade logic, while it is improved, it is still a little too easy to trade an elite talent for 3 top prospects, which would not be so bad but unfortunately the game doesn’t really believe in busts, so all of these prospects turn out to be great players on your team down the road making the trade look like a steal.

The second issue I have is the free agent signing, in two areas in particular. First would be signing rookies to long contracts is too easy, they will most likely take 10 years for $25 Million or $2.5 Million a season throughout the length of the contract, making it easy to make insanely good teams. Once the contract is up the players are on the decline and you end up tendering them a qualifying offer and getting draft picks in return if they sign elsewhere, it is that or you let them walk because they’ve regressed so much that they are not worth the money or roster space.

The second free agent complaint is, at the end of free agency you can sign players for 30k/yr for 10 yrs, which most of the time is okay, but in my multi-player Franchise with my brother he got Hanley Ramirez to take a deal like this and Ramirez was still pretty good even towards the end of his career.

The free agent glitches have been in the game for years, and it is something I am not happy with, it makes keeping a team good way too easy, especially since most of the time I take small market teams with small budgets to make it hard on myself, and the game gives me an easy way to stay good or great without much of a struggle. And teams who are usually pretty good like the Pirates, Rays, and Royals know that they can not keep up with the Yankees, Angels, Red Sox, and Dodgers when it comes to funds which means they end up losing the prospects.

Road to the Show

Road to the Show has not changed a whole lot, the biggest change comes in the form of the prospect showcase.

The prospect showcase is where you play three exhibition games for your region and you are trying to do the best that you can in order to get a higher draft stock. I had five rookie showcases, my first one was the best where I was drafted third overall by the White Sox. The other four attempts yielded bad results leading me to be taken in the late third round in my last attempt by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

I made myself a closer, I wanted to try to catch Mariano Rivera’s records, so I knew I needed to be on a winning team, unfortunately none of the five selections did anything to help me, I was taken by four AL Central teams before finally ending up on the Pirates.

So after bombing my opportunities with the showcase, I had to redeem myself, which I think I did okay with putting up insane numbers in my AA experience.

When I first got to AAA I ran into some issues, but then I settled down and figured it out towards the end of my second professional season.

I made the Majors in my third professional season for a short stint before I stunk the place up and I ended up back in AAA, and I struggled a bit there, but currently as I write this I have an ERA under 2 despite being a set up man for the closer.

Overall my time with Road to the Show to this point has been really good, I did find one thing annoying and that was being drafted in “2014″ despite going to college for four seasons, I should have had a later draft date than that and there was no random order to the draft, which seemed sort of cheap to me.

Conclusion

Overall my experience with MLB the Show has been really good, there are some frustrations in the game but they don’t kill the game in any way. In fact the game plays as well as it looks if you can overlook its issues.

The game modes are well done as usual, but I did find a lack of a fielding practice feature a bit of a pain considering the difficulty that is throwing the baseball across the diamond.

Community Challenges is also a good mode to try out, there are some good situations to try such as trying to make a diving catch to preserve a Cliff Lee no-hitter, to completing Yu Darvish’s no-hitter that was broken up in the 9th inning in a May 9th game against the Boston Red Sox.

Overall MLB the Show is an outstanding game of baseball and it should be part of any baseball fans game collection.

Like this:

The NHL Conference Finals are upon us and we have some very interesting match ups for a good number of reasons.

Starting with the Canadiens and Rangers battling for the Eastern Conference title after beating Boston and Pittsburgh respectively. The Canadiens won their last two versus the Bruins whereas the Rangers overcame what seemed to be an impossible 3-1 series deficit to the Penguins. This series will feature the Gold medal winning Carey Price and the Silver Medal winning Henrik Lundquist. The series starts Saturday at 1PM ET on NBC and CBC in Canada. The rest of the series will be on NBCSN in the US and CBC in Canada and have 8 PM ET start times.

And then there is Los Angeles vs Chicago which starts on Sunday at 3 PM on NBC and TSN is another series that will be interesting because it is a battle of the last two Stanley Cup Champions (LA in 2012 and Chicago in 2013), what’s more is that this will be the second straight season that these teams will meet in the Western Conference finals, Chicago won last season obviously as they were the Champions of the league.

Eastern Conference

Canadiens vs Rangers

This is one for the history books, an original six battle between the Canadiens and Rangers with a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals hanging in the balance. The Canadiens road here went through the Lightning in a four game sweep, and then the Bruins in what was a hard fought seven game series. The Rangers path was a little different, they knocked off the Flyers in the first round and then they came back from a 3-1 series deficit against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

These teams play opposite styles, the Canadiens are more of an offensive style team whereas the Rangers play more of defensive style even though this season they have been more offensive than they were under John Tortorella and his defense first system.

I personally think the series will be a high scoring, light checking series. The key to the series will be goaltending, which goaltender does the best work for his team? Well if previous series’ are any indication than the Canadiens have the edge in net. I think the Rangers need to really pressure the Canadiens into making mistakes which is what Boston didn’t do for some reason, the Canadiens are a fairly young team and the Rangers are more experienced especially guys like Brad Richards and Martin St. Louis on that club.

My prediction is Montreal in seven games, I think the Canadiens will be the better of the two offenses, and I think Carey Price is locked in and will win the goaltending battle (again) in this series.

Western Conference

Kings vs Blackhawks

For the second straight season the Los Angesles Kings and Chicago Blackhawks will do battle for a chance to move on to the Stanley Cup Finals, last season the Blackhawks needed only 5 games to win the series, but I have a sneaky suspicion that the series this year will go 6 or 7 games, I expect seven to be honest.

The road to this series for both teams were tough, Chicago had a vicious six game series against the St. Louis Blues in what might end up being the series of the playoffs in terms of pure hatred, the Blackhawks then played Minnesota and that series were much calmer (actually all the second round series were pretty calm) and it was a laugher of a series, though give the Wild credit they tried their best to overcome the slow start to the series that they had.

Los Angeles on the other hand had an incredible series with the San Jose Sharks coming back from a 3-0 series hole to win the series over the Sharks and then they had another seven game series against the Anaheim Ducks (and who said California doesn’t know hockey? They got to see some great series this year) edging them out in a 6-2 game in game 7.

These teams are both very similar, they both play solid D and both are very good checking teams. I think that LA has the edge in goaltending though, Jonathan Quick is a playoff performer, he doesn’t get playoff jitters, he is as cool as it gets in the playoffs which has spelled success for the Kings making three straight Western Conference Finals and winning the Stanley Cup in 2012, you can’t deny the success of the Kings. But at the same time the Kings do not stack up against the Blackhawks who have won two Stanley Cups in 4 years and are going for a third in five seasons, one of the consistent factors is Patrick Kane who is a clutch playoff performer, he is as good of a player as it gets in these type of games, which is good because God knows Buffalo is disappointed in the rest of their sports adventures so it is nice for that city to see a local kid in Kane do well.

My prediction this series, I predict the Kings win the series in seven games. I think Jonathan Quick comes through again in the clutch, and I also predict Patrick Kane scoring a goal in the series deciding game, whether the series ends in four games or goes seven like I think it will.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) today announced EA SPORTSTM NHL® 15, the first title in a new generation of hockey videogames that boldly changes everything you know about the award winning franchise. Experience the hard hitting chaos and unpredictability of the sport as real-world physics are extended to all 12 players on the ice, as well as the puck itself. Look, move, play and think like a real hockey player with all new authentic player modelling and an evolved arsenal of tools, including the Superstar Skill Stick and Vision AI that allow for an unprecedented level of control and elevated player intelligence. Take in the emotion of every play as you immerse yourself in authentic arenas across the National Hockey League. You’ll play in front of a full house of fans created with 9,000 dynamic and individual crowd models, the most ever in a sports videogame. Finally, witness the most realistic broadcast package to date, as NHL 15 overhauls the look of the game with the new NBC Sports Game Day Presentation featuring the commentary team of Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick and Eddie Olczy. TSN analyst Ray Ferraro will also provide insights at ice level.

From the ice, to the fans, to the presentation, NHL 15 brings to life the sights, sounds and feel of the fastest team sport on the planet like no other game before. Watch the debut NHL 15 – Official Teaser Trailer now.

NHL 15 will hit stores worldwide this fall for Xbox One, PlayStation®4, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system, and the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system. Full feature descriptions at the bottom of the release.

NHL 15 Features for Xbox One and PlayStation 4:

True Hockey Physics:

12 Player NHL Collision Physics – For the first time, real-world physics affect every player through every on-ice collision with the new 12 Player NHL® Collision Physics. Utilizing the power of the new consoles, and building off the critically-acclaimed NHL Collision Physics system, every player on the ice is governed by physics at all times. Feel the hard-hitting chaos of NHL hockey through true-to-life secondary collisions, net scrambles and player pileups, capturing the desperation of every shift.

Real Puck Physics – The puck is one of the most complex items in the game to authentically replicate and it finally gets its due in NHL 15. Completely rebuilt puck physics result in a more realistic feel to every puck interaction. Everything on the ice, including the ice surface itself, is live which leads to the unpredictable and authentic puck spins, rolls and bounces seen in a real NHL game.

The Next-Generation Hockey Player:

Authentic Player & Equipment Models – The Next Generation Hockey Player has been rebuilt from the ice up. Now player models have three distinct layers – the body, equipment, and jersey. Each layer interacts independently, making every contact with the puck or other players even more realistic. Dynamic Cloth technology adds an extra layer of realism as it reacts to the player’s movement as they explode up the ice, helping bring the speed of the game to life.

Unprecedented Player Likeness – Powered by the same technology that brought the most realistic representation of the athlete to EA SPORTS UFC, NHL 15 delivers groundbreaking player likeness, emotion and animation. From the strides a player takes to get across the ice to the emotion on their face after scoring a game-winning goal, the players are as real as they’ve ever been.

Superstar Skill Stick – Now all the tools of an NHL superstar are in your hands. The revolutionary Skill Stick has evolved to give even more control to the player. Protect the puck, receive passes without breaking stride, and discover an arsenal of new dekes, all with an intuitive right stick control scheme that is easy to use but packed with depth.

Vision AI – An elevated level of player intelligence, Vision AI features evolved awareness with players reading and reacting to potential plays. Scoring area recognition, pass anticipation, and enhanced team breakouts all improve the flow of the game.

NBC Sports Broadcast Package:

A New Commentary Team – New voices for a new generation. NHL 15 welcomes the NBC Sports commentary team of Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick and Eddie Olczyk to the broadcast booth. TSN analyst Ray Ferraro will provide game insights at ice level. Leveraging the same Vision AI foundation that the players have, and just like a live broadcast, Doc, Eddie and Ray will anticipate plays and ramp up their intensity to match the action on the ice with more than 35,000 lines of brand-new commentary.

NBC Sports Game Day Presentation – The most realistic broadcast package in a video game to-date is possible because of a new partnership with NBC Sports. Set the scene with the NHL on NBC crew welcoming you to the city during the game intros and immerse yourself in an experience that matches what you see on television with NHL on NBC graphics and branding.

Real Life Broadcast Integration – When we say Doc and Eddie are in the game, we mean really in the game. Taking commentary integration to the next level, NHL 15 will feature real world pre-game video commentary with Doc and Eddie. Set against NHL 15 in-game visuals, the result is a revolutionary step forward in sports videogames, where the lines between the real world of sport broadcast and the game are blurred.

Unrivalled In-Arena Experience:

Over 9,000 Crowd Models – NHL 15 sets a new standard in videogames with more than 9,000 individual crowd models with 4x the animations of previous generations. Take a look through the glass and you’ll see fans hold up signs with your name on them, costume wearing superfans, or even sections full of team rivals rooting against you.

Living Crowds – The crowd is alive. Feel the crowd behavior change after dropping the gloves, landing a big hit, or scoring a clutch goal. Individual behaviors are mapped to each person in the crowd, as they anticipate the play, taunt players, clap to music from the dynamic Jumbotron or even take a quick break from the action to snap a selfie and immortalize their experience.

Authentic Arenas – There is no feeling like being there, and we are giving you the best seats in the house. The power of the next-gen consoles finally allows the NHL franchise to capture every detail of an NHL arena. Unique arena elements from more than 19,000 seat capacities to lighting and player entrance tunnels are captured with a level of detail not possible on the previous generation. Now those home games will truly feel like home.

NHL 15 is in development at EA Canada in Vancouver and has not yet been rated by the ESRB or PEGI; visit http://www.esrb.org and http://www.pegi.info for more information. Become a fan of EA SPORTS NHL on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA) is a global leader in digital interactive entertainment. The Company delivers games, content and online services for Internet-connected consoles, personal computers, mobile phones and tablets. EA has more than 300 million registered players in over 200 countries.

In fiscal year 2013, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $3.8 billion. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, EA is recognized for a portfolio of critically acclaimed, high-quality blockbuster brands such as The Sims™, Madden NFL, EA SPORTS™ FIFA, Need for Speed™, Battlefield™ and Mass Effect™. More information about EA is available at http://www.ea.com/news.

EA SPORTS, The Sims, SSX, Need for Speed, Mass Effect and Battlefield are trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. and its subsidiaries. John Madden, NFL, NCAA, NHL, NBA, PGA TOUR, UFC and FIFA are the property of their respective owners and used with permission. “PlayStation” is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) today announced EA SPORTSTM NHL® 15, the first title in a new generation of hockey videogames that boldly changes everything you know about the award winning franchise. Experience the hard hitting chaos and unpredictability of the sport as real-world physics are extended to all 12 players on the ice, as well as the puck itself. Look, move, play and think like a real hockey player with all new authentic player modelling and an evolved arsenal of tools, including the Superstar Skill Stick and Vision AI that allow for an unprecedented level of control and elevated player intelligence. Take in the emotion of every play as you immerse yourself in authentic arenas across the National Hockey League. You’ll play in front of a full house of fans created with 9,000 dynamic and individual crowd models, the most ever in a sports videogame. Finally, witness the most realistic broadcast package to date, as NHL 15 overhauls the look of the game with the new NBC Sports Game Day Presentation featuring the commentary team of Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick and Eddie Olczy. TSN analyst Ray Ferraro will also provide insights at ice level.

NHL 15 will hit stores worldwide this fall for Xbox One, PlayStation®4, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system, and the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system. Full feature descriptions at the bottom of the release.

NHL 15 Cover Vote

In partnership with the National Hockey League (NHL®) and the National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA®), starting today fans get to decide the face of a new generation of hockey videogames with the launch of the EA SPORTS NHL 15 Cover VoteCampaign on NHL.com/CoverVote. From a pool of eight superstars, fans worldwide are encouraged to visit NHL.com to vote as often as possible to ensure their favorite player advances through the weekly elimination rounds.

Fans can double their voting power by using these player-specific hashtags on “Twitter Vote Thursdays” and can join the conversation by using #NHL15CoverVote. The winner will be unveiled as the EA SPORTS NHL 15 Cover Athlete at the 2014 NHL AwardsTM on June 24 at the Wynn Las Vegas in Las Vegas.

NHL 15 Cover Athlete Candidates

Team

Player

Player Hashtag

Boston Bruins

Patrice Bergeron

#NHL15Bergeron

San Jose Sharks

Logan Couture

#NHL15Couture

Los Angeles Kings

Drew Doughty

#NHL15Doughty

Colorado Avalanche

Matt Duchene

#NHL15Duchene

Ottawa Senators

Erik Karlsson

#NHL15Karlsson

Toronto Maple Leafs

Phil Kessel

#NHL15Kessel

St. Louis Blues

T.J. Oshie

#NHL15Oshie

Montreal Canadiens

P.K. Subban

#NHL15Subban

NHL 15 Features for Xbox One and PlayStation 4:

True Hockey Physics:

12 Player NHL Collision Physics – For the first time, real-world physics affect every player through every on-ice collision with the new 12 Player NHL® Collision Physics. Utilizing the power of the new consoles, and building off the critically-acclaimed NHL Collision Physics system, every player on the ice is governed by physics at all times. Feel the hard-hitting chaos of NHL hockey through true-to-life secondary collisions, net scrambles and player pileups, capturing the desperation of every shift.

Real Puck Physics – The puck is one of the most complex items in the game to authentically replicate and it finally gets its due in NHL 15. Completely rebuilt puck physics result in a more realistic feel to every puck interaction. Everything on the ice, including the ice surface itself, is live which leads to the unpredictable and authentic puck spins, rolls and bounces seen in a real NHL game.

The Next-Generation Hockey Player:

Authentic Player & Equipment Models – The Next Generation Hockey Player has been rebuilt from the ice up. Now player models have three distinct layers – the body, equipment, and jersey. Each layer interacts independently, making every contact with the puck or other players even more realistic. Dynamic Cloth technology adds an extra layer of realism as it reacts to the player’s movement as they explode up the ice, helping bring the speed of the game to life.

Unprecedented Player Likeness – Powered by the same technology that brought the most realistic representation of the athlete toEA SPORTS UFC, NHL 15 delivers groundbreaking player likeness, emotion and animation. From the strides a player takes to get across the ice to the emotion on their face after scoring a game-winning goal, the players are as real as they’ve ever been.

Superstar Skill Stick – Now all the tools of an NHL superstar are in your hands. The revolutionary Skill Stick has evolved to give even more control to the player. Protect the puck, receive passes without breaking stride, and discover an arsenal of new dekes, all with an intuitive right stick control scheme that is easy to use but packed with depth.

Vision AI – An elevated level of player intelligence, Vision AI features evolved awareness with players reading and reacting to potential plays. Scoring area recognition, pass anticipation, and enhanced team breakouts all improve the flow of the game.

NBC Sports Broadcast Package:

A New Commentary Team – New voices for a new generation. NHL 15 welcomes the NBC Sports commentary team of Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick and Eddie Olczyk to the broadcast booth. TSN analyst Ray Ferraro will provide game insights at ice level. Leveraging the same Vision AI foundation that the players have, and just like a live broadcast, Doc, Eddie and Ray will anticipate plays and ramp up their intensity to match the action on the ice with more than 35,000 lines of brand-new commentary.

NBC Sports Game Day Presentation – The most realistic broadcast package in a video game to-date is possible because of a new partnership with NBC Sports. Set the scene with the NHL on NBC crew welcoming you to the city during the game intros and immerse yourself in an experience that matches what you see on television with NHL on NBC graphics and branding.

Real Life Broadcast Integration – When we say Doc and Eddie are in the game, we mean really in the game. Taking commentary integration to the next level, NHL 15 will feature real world pre-game video commentary with Doc and Eddie. Set against NHL 15 in-game visuals, the result is a revolutionary step forward in sports videogames, where the lines between the real world of sport broadcast and the game are blurred.

Unrivalled In-Arena Experience:

Over 9,000 Crowd Models – NHL 15 sets a new standard in videogames with more than 9,000 individual crowd models with 4x the animations of previous generations. Take a look through the glass and you’ll see fans hold up signs with your name on them, costume wearing superfans, or even sections full of team rivals rooting against you.

Living Crowds – The crowd is alive. Feel the crowd behavior change after dropping the gloves, landing a big hit, or scoring a clutch goal. Individual behaviors are mapped to each person in the crowd, as they anticipate the play, taunt players, clap to music from the dynamic Jumbotron or even take a quick break from the action to snap a selfie and immortalize their experience.

Authentic Arenas – There is no feeling like being there, and we are giving you the best seats in the house. The power of the next-gen consoles finally allows the NHL franchise to capture every detail of an NHL arena. Unique arena elements from more than 19,000 seat capacities to lighting and player entrance tunnels are captured with a level of detail not possible on the previous generation. Now those home games will truly feel like home.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA) is a global leader in digital interactive entertainment. The Company delivers games, content and online services for Internet-connected consoles, personal computers, mobile phones and tablets. EA has more than 300 million registered players in over 200 countries.

In fiscal year 2013, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $3.8 billion. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, EA is recognized for a portfolio of critically acclaimed, high-quality blockbuster brands such as The Sims™, Madden NFL, EA SPORTS™ FIFA, Need for Speed™, Battlefield™ and Mass Effect™. More information about EA is available at www.ea.com/news.

EA SPORTS, The Sims, SSX, Need for Speed, Mass Effect and Battlefield are trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. and its subsidiaries. John Madden, NFL, NCAA, NHL, NBA, PGA TOUR, UFC and FIFA are the property of their respective owners and used with permission. “PlayStation” is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) today announced EA SPORTSTM NHL® 15, the first title in a new generation of hockey videogames that boldly changes everything you know about the award winning franchise. Experience the hard hitting chaos and unpredictability of the sport as real-world physics are extended to all 12 players on the ice, as well as the puck itself. Look, move, play and think like a real hockey player with all new authentic player modelling and an evolved arsenal of tools, including the Superstar Skill Stick and Vision AI that allow for an unprecedented level of control and elevated player intelligence. Take in the emotion of every play as you immerse yourself in authentic arenas across the National Hockey League. You’ll play in front of a full house of fans created with 9,000 dynamic and individual crowd models, the most ever in a sports videogame. Finally, witness the most realistic broadcast package to date, as NHL 15 overhauls the look of the game with the new NBC Sports Game Day Presentation featuring the commentary team of Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick and Eddie Olczy. TSN analyst Ray Ferraro will also provide insights at ice level.

NHL 15 will hit stores worldwide this fall for Xbox One, PlayStation®4, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system, and the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system. Full feature descriptions at the bottom of the release.

NHL 15 Cover Vote

In partnership with the National Hockey League (NHL®) and the National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA®), starting today fans get to decide the face of a new generation of hockey videogames with the launch of the EA SPORTS NHL 15 Cover VoteCampaign on NHL.com/CoverVote. From a pool of eight superstars, fans worldwide are encouraged to visit NHL.com to vote as often as possible to ensure their favorite player advances through the weekly elimination rounds.

Fans can double their voting power by using these player-specific hashtags on “Twitter Vote Thursdays” and can join the conversation by using #NHL15CoverVote. The winner will be unveiled as the EA SPORTS NHL 15 Cover Athlete at the 2014 NHL AwardsTM on June 24 at the Wynn Las Vegas in Las Vegas.

NHL 15 Cover Athlete Candidates

Team

Player

Player Hashtag

Boston Bruins

Patrice Bergeron

#NHL15Bergeron

San Jose Sharks

Logan Couture

#NHL15Couture

Los Angeles Kings

Drew Doughty

#NHL15Doughty

Colorado Avalanche

Matt Duchene

#NHL15Duchene

Ottawa Senators

Erik Karlsson

#NHL15Karlsson

Toronto Maple Leafs

Phil Kessel

#NHL15Kessel

St. Louis Blues

T.J. Oshie

#NHL15Oshie

Montreal Canadiens

P.K. Subban

#NHL15Subban

NHL 15 Features for Xbox One and PlayStation 4:

True Hockey Physics:

12 Player NHL Collision Physics – For the first time, real-world physics affect every player through every on-ice collision with the new 12 Player NHL® Collision Physics. Utilizing the power of the new consoles, and building off the critically-acclaimed NHL Collision Physics system, every player on the ice is governed by physics at all times. Feel the hard-hitting chaos of NHL hockey through true-to-life secondary collisions, net scrambles and player pileups, capturing the desperation of every shift.

Real Puck Physics – The puck is one of the most complex items in the game to authentically replicate and it finally gets its due in NHL 15. Completely rebuilt puck physics result in a more realistic feel to every puck interaction. Everything on the ice, including the ice surface itself, is live which leads to the unpredictable and authentic puck spins, rolls and bounces seen in a real NHL game.

The Next-Generation Hockey Player:

Authentic Player & Equipment Models – The Next Generation Hockey Player has been rebuilt from the ice up. Now player models have three distinct layers – the body, equipment, and jersey. Each layer interacts independently, making every contact with the puck or other players even more realistic. Dynamic Cloth technology adds an extra layer of realism as it reacts to the player’s movement as they explode up the ice, helping bring the speed of the game to life.

Unprecedented Player Likeness – Powered by the same technology that brought the most realistic representation of the athlete toEA SPORTS UFC, NHL 15 delivers groundbreaking player likeness, emotion and animation. From the strides a player takes to get across the ice to the emotion on their face after scoring a game-winning goal, the players are as real as they’ve ever been.

Superstar Skill Stick – Now all the tools of an NHL superstar are in your hands. The revolutionary Skill Stick has evolved to give even more control to the player. Protect the puck, receive passes without breaking stride, and discover an arsenal of new dekes, all with an intuitive right stick control scheme that is easy to use but packed with depth.

Vision AI – An elevated level of player intelligence, Vision AI features evolved awareness with players reading and reacting to potential plays. Scoring area recognition, pass anticipation, and enhanced team breakouts all improve the flow of the game.

NBC Sports Broadcast Package:

A New Commentary Team – New voices for a new generation. NHL 15 welcomes the NBC Sports commentary team of Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick and Eddie Olczyk to the broadcast booth. TSN analyst Ray Ferraro will provide game insights at ice level. Leveraging the same Vision AI foundation that the players have, and just like a live broadcast, Doc, Eddie and Ray will anticipate plays and ramp up their intensity to match the action on the ice with more than 35,000 lines of brand-new commentary.

NBC Sports Game Day Presentation – The most realistic broadcast package in a video game to-date is possible because of a new partnership with NBC Sports. Set the scene with the NHL on NBC crew welcoming you to the city during the game intros and immerse yourself in an experience that matches what you see on television with NHL on NBC graphics and branding.

Real Life Broadcast Integration – When we say Doc and Eddie are in the game, we mean really in the game. Taking commentary integration to the next level, NHL 15 will feature real world pre-game video commentary with Doc and Eddie. Set against NHL 15 in-game visuals, the result is a revolutionary step forward in sports videogames, where the lines between the real world of sport broadcast and the game are blurred.

Unrivalled In-Arena Experience:

Over 9,000 Crowd Models – NHL 15 sets a new standard in videogames with more than 9,000 individual crowd models with 4x the animations of previous generations. Take a look through the glass and you’ll see fans hold up signs with your name on them, costume wearing superfans, or even sections full of team rivals rooting against you.

Living Crowds – The crowd is alive. Feel the crowd behavior change after dropping the gloves, landing a big hit, or scoring a clutch goal. Individual behaviors are mapped to each person in the crowd, as they anticipate the play, taunt players, clap to music from the dynamic Jumbotron or even take a quick break from the action to snap a selfie and immortalize their experience.

Authentic Arenas – There is no feeling like being there, and we are giving you the best seats in the house. The power of the next-gen consoles finally allows the NHL franchise to capture every detail of an NHL arena. Unique arena elements from more than 19,000 seat capacities to lighting and player entrance tunnels are captured with a level of detail not possible on the previous generation. Now those home games will truly feel like home.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA) is a global leader in digital interactive entertainment. The Company delivers games, content and online services for Internet-connected consoles, personal computers, mobile phones and tablets. EA has more than 300 million registered players in over 200 countries.

In fiscal year 2013, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $3.8 billion. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, EA is recognized for a portfolio of critically acclaimed, high-quality blockbuster brands such as The Sims™, Madden NFL, EA SPORTS™ FIFA, Need for Speed™, Battlefield™ and Mass Effect™. More information about EA is available at www.ea.com/news.

EA SPORTS, The Sims, SSX, Need for Speed, Mass Effect and Battlefield are trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. and its subsidiaries. John Madden, NFL, NCAA, NHL, NBA, PGA TOUR, UFC and FIFA are the property of their respective owners and used with permission. “PlayStation” is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

Please head over to the new site to read this and to follow that blog because starting in a week or two I will not be using this site however I want to give people proper time to adjust to the transition.

That’s right, I am moving on. I am not leaving blogging behind though. I have just started up a new blog that has been in development since the new year, I am launching it tomorrow and it will feature some cool features which will be revealed as I post more and more stuff down the line. However if you are looking for a preview head on over to http://www.enforcingthecode.com and check it out. It is still a work in progress and it may change over the rest of today as you are navigating the website.

But overall I am excited to be shifting over to the new site because it has sat there getting various changes throughout the past 3 months and this is as good as it is going to look with as little coding as I know. However if I knew as much about coding as I know about graphic design or even blogging I could have probably made a pretty bad-ass looking website for myself.

Anyway the main reason I am leaving this one behind is because I wanted to venture on my own and see what success I could have without the wordpress.com constraints, such as file upload sizes, the limited bandwidth, and just an overall lack of true features that it truly takes to run a technology based website which is why it was important for me to really move on and get working on a site that would be able to deliver on a host of different features I have implemented on the website over at Enforcing The Code.

I have a follow button and I am trying to incorporate as many as the wordpress.com features as possible to make it as seamless of a transition as possible for all of my readers and for myself because that was my main reason for going to wordpress.org, but we will see how it works out.

I would like to thank everyone who has viewed and liked my blog here for the last 14 months, I hope to serve you all on the new site, and it should allow more opportunities than I have now with ELECTROSPORTS. I hope to see you all on the new site, because it will be the same as this outside of a new look and name.

SAN FRANCISCO — April 8, 2014 — Today, Ubisoft® announced that The Crew will be available this fall for Xbox One®, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft, the PlayStation® 4 computer entertainment system and PC.

The Crew is a revolutionary action-driving game that takes gamers on a reckless ride throughout a massive, open-world recreation of the United States brimming with exciting challenges and populated by other real players.

The Crew’s premiere gameplay trailer, released today, shows four cars, each in a different iconic region of the United States, forming a crew to continue their journey together across the living, breathing open-world.

The Crew is now available for pre-order in two different editions for Xbox One and PlayStation 4. The Limited Edition will grant early access to rides that will prepare gamers for any road—and off-road—conditions. Players who pre-order this edition will receive early access to the BMW Z4 sDrive35is, Mini Cooper S, and Dodge Ram SRT-10 and their respective sets of full custom and performance parts. The Muscle Edition, which can only be pre-ordered at GameStop, will include all early unlock content from the Limited Edition and will also grant exclusive early access to the 2015 Ford Mustang GT. Both Editions include 10,000 bonus Crew Credits. Players can pre-order The Crew for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 at their local retailers.

About Ubisoft
Ubisoft is a leading creator, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and services, with a rich portfolio of world-renowned brands, including Assassin’s Creed, Just Dance, Tom Clancy’s video game series, Rayman and Far Cry. The teams throughout Ubisoft’s worldwide network of studios and business offices are committed to delivering original and memorable gaming experiences across all popular platforms, including consoles, mobile phones, tablets and PCs. For the 2012-13 fiscal year Ubisoft generated sales of €1,256 million. To learn more, please visit http://www.ubisoftgroup.com.

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Bruins @ Wild 8 PM ET (NESN|FS-N)

This is the best game of a day full of iffy games, none of the games jump out at me as must watch games. But since these are two playoff teams (I am assuming the Wild squeeze into the playoffs since they only need one point in their next three games) playing it should be a highly competitive game, and a low scoring game since the primary focus is on defense typically for both of these clubs. I’ll predict a 2-1 Bruins shootout win.